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Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, The House in which Jennie Wade was killed and her monument, tombstone, vintage postcard photo

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, The House in which Jennie Wade was killed and her monument, tombstone, vintage postcard photo

A vintage postcard of the House in which Jennie Wade was killed and her monument, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought on July 1 to July 3, 1863 in and around the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania which had a population of about 2,400 at the time of the battle. Between the Union and Confederate Armies, about 175,000 soldiers were involved in the battle. With a total of about 50,000 casualties, this became the bloodiest single battle in American history. Of these casualties, about 8,000 men were killed. In addition, about 3,000 horses were killed.

Amazingly, despite the hundreds of thousands of shots fired during the three days of heavy fighting, only one civilian was killed during the battle. A young woman named Mary Virginia Wade, more commonly known as Jennie (or Ginnie), was instantly killed by a bullet that had passed through a door and struck her as she was kneading bread in the kitchen of the house. Jennie Wade, who was 20 years old, was buried temporarily in the backyard of the house. In January, 1864, her remains were transferred to the German Reformed Church Cemetery. Her body was transferred a final time in November, 1865 to the Evergreen Cemetery, not far from where Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address. A monument was erected at her grave in her honor (pictured on the inset of the postcard and in the additional photo below).

The house in which Jennie Wade was killed remains standing in Gettysburg. Now known as the Jennie Wade House, this was actually the home of her sister, Georgia McClellan. During the battle, the house was stuck by more than 150 bullets. An artillery shell also struck the house but did not explode.

See the photo below of the grave of Jennie Wade.

The grave and tombstone of Jennie Wade in Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

The grave and tombstone of Jennie Wade in Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The foot of the tombstone is marked with her full name of Mary Virginia Wade. The Evergreen Cemetery adjoins the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

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